Eastern Shadows

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: Eastern Shadows
GM: Jono
Season: ~Spring 824 WK
Night: Starting Monday at 7pm on the 9th of September 2024 at Jono's place (dress warm).
Area: West of Carzala
Level: Low/Medium
Info: Information from players for Jono
House Rules: Jono Quickness and Slowness

Party

Character name	College / Skills	Race	Player
Ruby	Fire	Human	Kelsie
Sonny Holliday	Celestial	Hobbit	Michael M
Johann	Wicca	Human	Michael Haycock
Dae	Mind	Elf	Gus
Thornie	Earth	Dwarf	Michael P
Edwin	N/A	Shapechanger	Mark Scofield

Party leader - Sonny & Ruby
Scribe - Ruby
Mil Sci - Edwin

Employer

Mistress of Shadow (also known as Lulu Till). She is one of the local Guild leaders from Gugnir's Hope. Scouts have reported issue with a new band of Orcs. The guild master's wants more information.

Scribe Notes

"Of Cliffs & Fire Pigs, Hobbits found bliss through Dwarven speech"

Having spent the night at the village of Green Goblins, and experiencing their usual 'hospitality' we notice three boats that are going along the river headed to the the cave entrance at the bottom of the hill, and we decide to follow them by taking the path that goes along the river. On the way we pass through their farmlands, and outer defensive structures.

The forest on the outskirts of the cave seems to have been cleared of dead trees, and any and all fallen or rotting wood, we conclude someone might have been harvesting them for kindling. Upon arriving here, Edwin takes the lead with his dogs, and shortly after we see projectiles headed towards the boats, after a while an Orc leader pops out of the bushes, berating his underlings for their poor shooting skills. While enthralled by the spectacle, we notice some brown or maroon hobbit-like creatures also looking over the ongoing combat happening between the shore and the boats, some of them, ridding what looked to be pigs.

Upon reaching them, we confirm they are hobbits, but not the ones we've previously encountered on the cliffs, these are dressed with a more wild flare, and carry themselves in a more road-seasoned fashion. They seem to belong to another plane, a fiery place. Sonny tries to Detect Arcana on them, but fails horribly, causing a black blob to raise from bellow his feet, it was quickly squashed by Ruby, whom didn't want any interruptions in finding out more about these unique flavour of hobbits. Karl, one of them starts communicating with Sonny, albeit on Dwarvish, making Ruby take on translating duties. They are in search for the goblins that have taken gear from them at an earlier time, some of which seem to be the Rain Staffs carried by Yohan & Ruby, which are two out of six of the missing staffs. They are also trying to find captives of these goblins, including a bottled princess, and a hobbit named Kurtis.

We've learnt that what has been driving these goblins out of these caves...nay...out of another plane, has been the Master of these hobbits, which they say it looks somewhat like our sickly looking companion, the elf, but were unwilling to share any more information about it, not even their name. We've set up a deal with the hobbits, to provide us further information on how to travel through the cave and control where we land (since if you don't you might fall into a random plane apparently), all we have to do is assist them with their hunt for items and captives. Meeting them can happen twice a month, at the beginning, and at the middle of the month, at the top of the cliff, during noon, the will wait for us no more than half an hour.

Once our encounter with the pig riding hobbits concludes, we return to the Green Goblin Village, with newfound information at hand. Once there we see the goblins treating some foreign women with reverence, these foreigners seem to be acting a little bit like water fountains, and they seem to be licking and drinking water from them. It is a bit chaotic when it comes to the Green Goblins, I might have just seen it wrong. The rest of the day is spent with Edwin trying to communicate with the goblins about some work to be done to his amulet, but with little success, and Sonny trying to improve his communication skills with them.

The following day, Sonny wakes up to a pile of trinkets (for the second time), most of them shiny, left for him, this time, he checks the pile, and decides to keep three large alligator teeth found there. We decide to head back towards Gugnir's Hope, stopping on the way to check with more hobbits! But this time, familiar ones, were we spend the night, and Sonny finds a message left for him by Antonella, which also leads us back towards home. Before hitting the sack, Sonny, Ruby, Johann and Edwin receive drinks. Sonny's and Ruby's drinks seem to have special effects, the former will help him with his sleep the next few days, while the later will make her move faster and further, for an unknown amount of time. Dae receives pansies, is it because he is an elf, or because he looks like he can't handle liquor?.

During supper, we discuss with them the fire breathing pigs, and their hobbit riders, and they tell us of news of a traveling circus in Amber, comprised of elves and humans. Also they tell is that there once was a princes in a bottle, a sister of a Nixie, who was saved some 30 years ago by some adventurers. It wasn't clear to me if one of them was Mordrin, or a relative of Mordrin, but she did follow him down to a cave with a River. I was too busy smelling the pansies to follow the conversation, wonder where they were cut from?. But there was also a rumor that the Nixie went with Clementine, and that she had made a well somewhere, Ruby was having a weird natured conversation with an equally weird old hobbit.

Ruby spent the night having weird dreams about Goblins, a whole horde of them chasing her. Sonny used detect arcana on her to determine if she was cursed, but fails to confirm or deny it. We leave the hobbits place next morning, and arrive at the lake where Mr Beaver has made his damn, we call for him, and he arrives, majestically riding his beloved steed, Mr Turtle. Elated to see us, in his dire time of need, he asks for our assistance during the next High moon, 'powerful creatures will try to steal salt from the rock in the middle of the lake'. These creatures are of dark magic, and expected to arrive towards the end of the month, in about 20 days, He fears they will put something on the water to drive him away, enabling them to perform a dark ritual. These creatures come from a place of darkness, perhaps a tower, cave, or plane. He offers potions to drive away death.

At Ruby's request, he provides us with some of his powerful salt, which will prevent the undead from rising, and 'make already animated dead more sluggish?'(not too sure, was smelling the pansies). Sonny inquires about the most powerful magic these creatures can use, and Beaver describes it very similarly to Thorns of Corruption. He gives us 6 potions, and mentions "they will likely come five days before the full moon". Other than that, he informs us that elf merchants visited him three days ago, and they were also headed to Gugnir's Hope.

We skip the pig farm on our way back, but still, during night-time, at the distance, come across some tiny dark creatures, casting long dark shadows. Sonny asks his friend about their allegiance, and receives the answer of not being problematic if we talk to them. We skip that suggestion, but Sonny gives his friend a fishing hook and POOF, the creature dissapears.

Whilst camping at night, during Ruby's watch, we are 'visited' by a 10 foot tall (maybe it was the grogginess of the night, and it was not as tall) figure with menacing black bat wings, carrying a whip at her hip, a sheathed sword, wearing black gloves. She is dressed entirely in black, and has a set of black bat-like wings on her...her features...seem elvish.

We decide to talk to her, it definitely wasn't an impulse of our elf deeming every other elf he finds friendly. She informs us she was in the search for Dae, his mother sends dark tidings about his 'sister', and confuses him, even more by calling it also half-sister, adoptive sister, and his uncle's child. When asked about her identity, she says she is one of the Zeladons (Cellar doors?).

She casts a spell on Dae, which seems to be Shadow form at rank 15 (double duration), and leaves alone, after being rejected both by Ruby and Dae, about bringing them with haste, leaving behind a warning "Remember, the woods are not empty..." </nowiki>

"Of the Elven gaze, Homecomings turned unwelcome"

Early in the morning, the Jester Collective, set out and reaching the grove on the outskirts of a neighborhood where among many others, Dae's Family lives. A crowd of a dozen or so people...on closer count...fourteen, are occupying the front of the family workshop, which never gathers that much attention. On closer inspection, we find it might have something to do with the heavily decorated elves, more beautiful than or traveling water mage , standing there among them. Upon making our way through, Dae's mother takes him aside to let him know those elves, are from Elfheim, and they are looking for my sister, and on a lesser note, probably also Dae, due to readings made from the sky at Elfheim. His mother clarifies to him, upon his insistence, that it's not a biological sister, but a relative.

We leave towards the busy parts of Gingnir's Hope, where we find the streets are more busy than usual, before proceeding further we are seen by some lads of the keep, urge for us to talk to them. They bring tidings of folk looking for us, Dwarves, Elves, and Hobbits. All three part of different groups, and while Sonny is the one the hobbits are looking for, they are unsure of the rest. Weary of finding trouble, or trouble finding us, we decide to skip the village and head towards mistress Lulu, and with our keen perception we see strange movement occurring on the bathhouse, and later also see Thorny's people changing the color of horses (on of them, a rival, throws thorny an object, but he nonchalantly catches it with ease) but we chose to ignore both interactions until we report back to the mistress.

Upon reaching the forest were the Celestials dwell, we find a lot of folk carving pumpkins, and once we're further deep, we come across half a dozen Wiccans. It turns out, currently there are five rangers in Gungnir's Hope, while there are only 3 positions. It seems the elivish court has decided to replace some of the rangers stationed here. Additionally, the elvish court suspects Dae's father from sheltering and hiding dissidents here, al allegation that seems to emanate from an elvish faction from the past, that rased this claims against his family. And on the subject of the elvish court...they are also the ones who requested or summoner Gungnir's Water Mage to go to Elfheim, "I know that in good authority" Lulu states.

We are informed that the group of dwarves looking for the Whimsical Gang, is doing so in regards for things what might have been found by Edwin Sonny & Yohann a sometime ago under Gungnir's Hope. Lulu asks Dae if there are any shapeshifters in his family, before ending our meeting and asking us to return at midnight for further instructions, since she has to digest the information we brought her in regards to the situation about the visitors from other planes coming from the caves beneath the cliff.

We decide to head to the Bakery of Sonny's Family, go for some fresh Pies & Buns. Theresa gives us plenty of food, since she sees us so malnourished according to her standards. One of the lads working at at the bakery gives us some sausage rolls to lire the Water Snake, and as a tip Sonny gives him a silver piece.

To kill some time we decide to head to the sheriff, but we spot the elves looking for Dae & his sister and decide to bolt before they see us, rerouting towards the bathhouse, only to be informed along the way, that the Dwarves that are looking for us are at Ruby's Forge currently, Sonny decides to dance with the shadows to find out more about the Dwarves and their motives at the forge, but can only make out "....west.....trade...." from their conversation. He sees them wearing half plates, which usually means they are out to kill somewhere, or that there is violence to be expected, but inside of the forge at least, they are acting respectful. Sonny is not spotted by the Dwarves, but a figure standing in the fire of the forge beckons him but the heat is too strong for Sonny to get closer.

While we are keeping a low profile and awaiting Sonny's return, Ruby is approached in the street and is informed that the Baron wants to speak with her, and soon. Ruby goes there, and the rest of the Quirky Bunch decide to follow. We are intercepted by Caspar, the Baron's son. He is roughly 10 years our elder, and Ruby detects he is not the brightest of stars. He informs us that his father has been asking questions about her merry group of friends, and inquiring about our involvements with robberies. It seems someone is spreading rumors that our crew is involved with the robbery of thousand pieces. And the request to see us, has been put not only due to that, but also to comply with the court of elves demand. Casper is fast to let us know, that his interception is to avoid us showing up, leaving it to be read between the lines how much of this was his idea, and how much was his father's instruction.

With newfound awareness of how many eyes are out looking for us, we decide to skip the village and head northeast, towards puppy town. Where Sonny attempts to DA the name of some species, to find out they are Ork-man, and where Edwin proceeds to show us a bit of how they train their beasts. While waiting there and keeping an eye out towards the forest where the Celestials dwell, we spot the people of influence from the village heading there, probably holding a special meeting to discuss the current affairs storming the village. But...we don't only see the people of influence headed there...we see the elves that are looking for us skulking to spy on the meeting and the mistresses. We discuss a bit of the power dynamics of the town and how the real power is in the had of all the Mistresses. Gugnir's Hope is led by them. We have a supper that still moves, it's a dark substance, which the courageous eater, was rewarded with 4 points of fatigue restoration for their bravery.

Midnight comes, and we must go to meet Lulu, so we ask Edwin's mistress for assistance, and she startles the elves off, so we can proceed with a better chance of being unnoticed. Se gives us a contraption, a pink stone, that Dae's mother actually crafts, it's meant to stop elves, you put it in the ground and there is a high likelihood of them not being able to pass through them. We make our way to the forest, from which we see a purplish light emanating from it. As we get closer and deeper into it, we see a line of people, about a dozen or so there, primarily three of the Celestials, three of the Wiccans, and 3 of the blacksmiths.
We are to head out to Blue grass, or so Lulu state. Once in Blue Grass we will enter another realm through the ponds where we will take upon further training to prepare us, while also keeping out of sight of the elves that are on the look for us, away from Gugnir's Hope's area. We are offered to take the endeavor of flying to Seagate to get Helena, the water mage to come back, but due to the elven peril, traveling to Blue Grass directly, takes precedence.

We are given Strenght of Stone, and a blend of celestial magics, we are provided each with a torch, whose light shall only be seen by their holder. We head west, on foot, towards Blue Grass, upon arrival, we see the place covered by a blue lavander colour, a town made of stone round houses, with blue thatched roofs. In contrast to our town, this place is remarkably quiet.

Arriving at the pond, swimming magic is cast on us, there is a woman with reptilian features, and something that looks almost like gills, she is always restless, moving her feet, never still. "On the pool, swim around three times, alongside the current that goes clockwise, once you do the third loop, you can come up outside again" she says to all of us, and while staring at Sonny she says to him that he should dig in the beaches at dawn.

Once we hop on the pond, we almost lost Sonny, but luckily Ruby comes to his aid, and we surface on warm water, on a beach, where the climate is also warm, we hear the surf of the waves, and see a building in the distance and head there. We find Thorny's Mistress there, she is carving extra rooms.

We are warned that terrible people live above the cliffs, and that we should avoid making big smoke, like explosions and such. At dawn, Sonny goes down to the beach digging for treasure, he sees a lot of shipwrecks along the beach with the low tide.

This has been the first night that Ruby has slept with no nightmares recently, which is was a propitious omen for our following half a dozen weeks of training we were about to undertake.

Of Sylphs and Dryads, take heed; their allure hides treachery

Our training is guided by our Mistresses, and a small mutant dwarf for Dae as his instructor (peculiar one, when darkness falls, she transforms into stone).
After six weeks of training, a strikingly beautiful woman appears. Those more familiar with the urban side of Gugnir's Hope, Ruby and Thorny, recognize her as the Mistress of the Baron. She is known for her elusive nature, often staying in the shadows and maintaining a low profile. We are introduced to Lady Niccola by our Mistresses, who will guide us through a Greater Enchantment for each of us(Rank 14). We have the option to focus on two areas of our choice, one area for a longer duration (two seasons), or three areas over a shorter period (four weeks). Yohan opts to enhance his combat, resistance, and spell aptitudes. While Sonny will work on his physical aptitudes (Stats), resistance, and spell aptitudes. Ruby will enhance her combat, resistances, and spells aptitude. Thorny will also delve into resistance and spells aptitude. And Dae only focuses on his spells.

Before departing from us, Lady Niccola explains to us, that currently, at night, our spell success chances increase about a tenth (105), while during the day, it’s about a twentieth (5%). At the end of our training, around twenty witches perform a 'Blessing of the Child.' Surprisingly, this blessing even affects Sonny and Dae, who consider themselves the most mature of the group. Dae is disheartened to hear that he still has maybe fifty years to go before he truly grows up. As a result of the blessing, everyone receives a total of 22 points in Wicca to use as a bonus to enhance their chances of success in future endeavors.

We are given a task, to follow a lead to the Plane of Earth. Several individuals plan to send some skallywags to take items there for recharging. This area is reasonably populated at this time of year. We are to discover the best way to sneak in and investigate the individuals fencing goods there. There’s a young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Joshua, accompanied by a mysterious third individual. They are set to meet a contact to unload their ill-gotten gains. The Rambling Man, well-versed in earth magic, appears to be leading them. We suspect they have contracted this group for assistance, and we believe he possesses one of the Rain Staffs we are searching for. Legend has it that he was once a doppelganger of a powerful mage who had a horn on his face.

The Joshuas are traveling through the Fastness and enter the Plane of Earth via caves near the Green Water Goblins. Our mistresses know of another tunnel that leads to this plane, requiring a 24-hour walk to reach them. The witches provide us with two potions to be used within the week. One potion reduces our endurance but restores twice that amount of fatigue (13 + D), while the other heals all of our endurance.They escort us back to Bluegrass, where we encounter Katarine (or Katrine), the water mage, returning from Seagate. She helps with the turnips and gives each of us a turnip.

While traveling on our cats, still through a high mana zone in the Fastness, Sonny’s feline warns him of something ahead, which he suspects is a tailed spider. As Sonny steps on his cat's tail, the creatures notice us—hybrid scorpion-hobbit creatures.
In a panic, Sonny trips (00) and gets his foot (and Thorny’s cat’s paw) stuck in a trap, taking 6 damage. His cat darts past us, meowing in distress. We prepare for battle, unwilling to abandon our unlucky friends, as the code of the Goof Troop dictates. From another direction, we hear more creatures approaching, joining the Scorbbits. Ruby panics and flees the battlefield, while her cat unexpectedly goes berserk against the skeletons. Thorny’s cat faints, and although Thorny stands his ground, yet he hesitates to engage. I’m unsure what happened to Yohan's cat, but Yohan prepares a thorn wall as Sonny tries to free himself and Thorny attempts to rescue his cat. Dae makes a futile attempt at a mind attack on the skeletons, panic supersedes reason.

For our relief, one of the Scorbbits/Hobbpions charges toward the skeletons. Three of the skeletons attack Ruby’s cat, and one moves toward Sonny. Another skeleton chases Ruby, and yet another advances slowly toward Sonny or Thorny. Sonny smashes the left arm of the skeleton that confronted him.
One of the Scorbbits tries to strike Thorny, but he skillfully dodges. And the last one attacks Yohan with its glaive with a very humble degree of success. Once we get our bearings, we manage to flow through the combat. We realize that among our assailants is an empty armored shell, a mechanical dwarf wielding the glaive, a reminder of the dangers that lurk in the shadows.

We detect a shivering in the timbers around us.

The Scorbbitt that fled has taken Ruby’s cat, rubbing it against the trees in an attempt to lure us into a trap, likely up the rocky hill between two raised areas with a gully in between. “We cann all be friends, you know!... Things don't have to get nasty!” shouts Sonny. Dae senses the source of the wind drawing closer and warns the group.
“Throw me a magic sword, and I’ll throw you a kitten!” Shouts the Hobbpion, realizing our only magic sword is a loan, we try and manage to convince him to retrieve the defenseless cat from the gully, which is clearly not a trap, without anything to trade, but his own safety. The wind rustles through the trees as we approach. Going back to rummage to the chaos and loot of the previous battle, we notice that the scorbbit that fell due to Ruby's strike according to the catnapper, has woken up and fled.

As we carry on, we notice that the wind subsides as Ruby's voice grows louder...from the shadows, a sylph man and woman emerge—fae creatures adorned in forest canopies, with vines wrapping discreetly around them. They greet us in Common from about thirty feet away and mention that rangers are searching for the elf, Dae. They inform us that the creatures we fought earlier come from the crypt, part of different groups. They lead us to a clearing in the woods, asking us for stories along the way. Dae recalls the route well enough to find our way back later.

They offer us some stroggon(?) to eat while sharing information about Dae's uncle and how the elves have taken his sister. A powerful necromancer is heading toward our original path, intent on raising the fallen dwarven spirits. They offer to guide us to where the clay pigeons fall from the sky.

Dae notices he has lost a few pounds since arriving with the sylphs. The rest of the party observes Dae flickering and flashing. After a mind check, Sonny realizes Dae is resisting the effects of the dryads. Dae also notices green growths appearing on the rest of us, indicating we are slowly turning green.

Despite a failed mind speech check, to attempt to warn the group without alerting the Fae, Dae feels unwell while the others wake up refreshed. He negotiates with the sylphs for the release of his companions, they say he can come back for them, once they have harvested all the salt they need. On a fit of desperation, Dae offers them the salt obtained from the Beaver hermit, from his lake crystal, in exchange for their freedom.

We spend three or four days in the forest, waiting for the dryads’ magic to subside from the party members—except for Dae, whom looks haggard, due to having a bad time waiting for the rest of the Foolish Fellowship to normalize.
To make up for lost time, we press the march, forward while we hunt and forage for food, as our rations have been depleted by the cats during their struggle against the sylph curse, but hey, at least those chubby kittens ahve the nourishment to ride the path, and Thorny's cat has had time to heal his paw while resting & waiting.

As we travel southward, we spot a group of people about a mile away. The trees are lush and green; spring has evidently reached this place. We’re all quite hungry from the exertion, with sore backs from riding. Using our fireless cookware, we prepare a meal while observing the distant group setting up a fire and a banner.
Suddenly, we notice goblins (not green) preparing to attack this group. We discuss whether to warn them or intervene as heroes. Unbeknownst to us, Yohann's keen Wiccan eyes catch a glimmer of light up in the sky.

Buffs & Mil Sci

Long Term (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Da	Ed	Jo	Ru	So	Th
Greater Ench.	here's hoping	+ to Res, Mag, Com, and S&S.	Var
Fire Protection (Ru)	6	vs normal fire	7 hrs
Fire Armour (Ru)	6	28 pt ablative vs magical fire	7 hrs
Self Only

Short Term

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Da	Ed	Jo	Ru	So	Th
Shadow Wings (So)	6	36 mph, 126 miles range	3.5 hrs
Walking Unseen (So,Jo)	6		7 hrs
Weapon of Flames (Ru)	7	+8 SC, +5 Dam, +8 dam vs undead, cold, water	12 min
Mind Speech (Da)	4	Range 70ft - One primary target plus 5 other targets	50 mins

Misc

Herbalist Lunch/Broth

...

Watch Order

8pm	9pm	10pm	11pm	12am	1am	2am	3am	4am	5am	6am	7am
Edwin + Dogs		Jo				Dae				Edwin + Dogs
Sonny				Thornie				Ruby

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Default ... ... ...	Double File ... ... ...	Single File ... ... ...